CES 2012, come and gone, and the resulting memories of the event are leaving the tech journalists summarizing the

four day Vegas monster exhibit. Among the lists out there, it seems like the Lumia is up front and center. CNet, ZD-Net, etc. The Daily Beast is calling the Lumia 900 the bane of

the iPhone (maybe a bit of hyperbole, but Dan Lyons really, really loves the Lumia 800, and thinks the 900 he played with is the bees knees) and exactly what Microkia needs to survive.

Despite the multi-core, ultra-thin, super-specced, and feature-loaded phones that populated the showroom floor, it seems like an overwhelming amount of praise is being lavished upon a device with fairly modest specs (In the face of the 16mp Titan II camera, despite knowledge that it’s the sensor, stupid, not the pixels) on a platform that is both gasping for breath and trying to evolve lungs as it drags itself out of the murky waters of obscurity.

Will the Lumia light up the US sales charts? Although WebOS was similarly loved by the press and by its users, HP simply doesn’t have the advertising knuckle and pure determination of Microsoft and Nokia once their vision has become myopic and goal-focused.

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(21) Readers Comments

Doug Smith

January 12, 2012 at 9:28 pm

While I agree that the Nokia Lumia 900 stole the show from a device stand point, it is clear the pundits are not as on board with Windows Phone as they seem to write. The first article says it is running Windows Phone 7 operating system which is excellent but ill named, but it is running Windows Phone 7.5 Mango. The next article claims that the 900 has a F2.2 aperture when in fact it has a F2.4. And the Daily Beast saying it has a more modern design than the iPhone? I know the iPhone’s current design has a Birthday behind it, but I still have to give the nod to Apple for that design and build quality. It is nothing short of stellar. Now, call the 3.5 screen and the OS anything you like, but you can’t pick that phone up and not be impressed. BTW, it is the only phone with a F2.2 in the U.S. The Titan II has a 16mp, yeah, but a F2.6? Be interesting to see how it does.

Murani Lewis

January 12, 2012 at 9:32 pm

One person at CES said the Lumia 900 is the first phone they have to have since the iPhone came out.

Jim Szymanski

January 12, 2012 at 11:37 pm

+1 on getting one. Hell, I might even be willing to stand in line, a very short one that is, for this phone. Na (or is it bahhhh). Fortunately, I have an insider that will have me in and out in less than 15 minutes.

Sicem98

January 12, 2012 at 11:48 pm

Doug S – I think you may be wrong on the aperture. Nokia’s own US site shows a F2.2 aperture for the rear camera and a F2.4 for the front camera.

The iPhone is a great sculpted piece of machinery, always has been Doug. I do think, however, that the press is on board with WP7 and their cautious optimism will probably be trounced by Q4 2012 when WP8 hits. I’m not saying its guaranteed by any means.

The Lumia is just a sexy boss beast of a phone line. It’s a subtle craft in making touchscreen phones look good because all you have is a bezel (the less the better), the side (the less, the better), and the back (which your hand touches more than your eyes see), and Nokia has succeeded in thus far making the best looking phone on the market.

I’m sure the iPhone 5 will be great, but I don’t think it’s going to have the impact the iPhone 4 did without Jobs. Not to say he was responsible for absolutely everything, but he was responsible for absolutely everything that made it to market since the iPod.

The more I read the press from the CES show, the more I get the impression that MS had a hell of a swansong.

Stan City

January 13, 2012 at 5:06 am

Until there is news that Lumia 900 has a 32/64gb upgrade MS/Nokia sits at the bottom of understanding consumer needs.

This Skydrive crap being rammed down my throat is getting all the more irritating with document sharing. Both Apple and Android understand the need for privacy in the business world, they need Apps but at least there is a way. Windows Phone is becoming useless to me and that’s a shame. Hey give me 25gb of free online storage and let me use it as I wish. MS forces me to use it for private matters shows me MS is run by idiots. Things are heading in the wrong direction, and when I think of all the time I have invested waiting, I get really POed.

I find myself swapping the sim card to a WM, just to create and send a Private document. They can make a phone with all the whistles but it’s more useless than phones from 5 yrs ago!

murani lewis

January 13, 2012 at 8:59 am

Stan City i’m a little confused because it seems the gist of your complaint is the lack of ability to create a private document. You lash out at Microsoft for not providing the feature but then applaude Apple and Google for providing this when its actually third party devs who provide the ability through apps.

Every single company is pushing the cloud including Apple. In fact if you really want to be technical the company you have the least control of your files is with Apple.

Chris Leiter

January 13, 2012 at 1:37 pm

How’s that Murani? Least control over what? The photos? No. You have control over the photos. Docs? No. You have control over the docs… Music? Nope, wrong again.. Must be the Call logs… nope.. perhaps movies? Uh uh.

So least control in what way?

AS far as the 900 is concerned, I still think it’s ridiculous looking. Then again, I don’t like that style of design, and sure as hell don’t like the late 1950s Parisian gloss it has going for it. Maybe it’ll be the saving grace for the Windows Phone experiment, and might hold off utter failure until Windows 8 devices can hit the market… then again, maybe it won’t be. Either way, calling a phone that has yet to make a dent in sale charts the ‘bane of the iPhone’ is a bit premature don’t you think? Saying a device can be like a thorn in the side to a device which is selling more than 30 million per quarter is a bit presumptuous.. Relying on a single device to turn a failing OS around (yes, failing, fanboys love it, but the general public doesn’t. They want Android and they want iPhone) is cute. I’m interested to see if it’s possible.

All I’m seeing is someone with comprehension problems and a chip on their shoulder.

There is no gloss on the phone. It’s a matte polycarbonate finish. If you failed any harder they’d pick it up on seismometer.

The bane of the iPhone bit was all of the press calling the Lumia a better designed phone than the iPhone. Well, at least the majority. It’s ok though.

And relying on a single device to turn a failing OS around? How about the original Motorola Droid, which saved a struggling Android OS from obscurity? And with the Titan II, the Lumia 710, and other devices coming from other manufacturers, they aren’t relying on one. But they are fashioning THE Windows Phone, just like the Nexus is THE Android phone (But, unlike Android, WP7 will get software updates outside of the mainlined handsets).

Oh, and if by failing you mean slowly gaining marketshare and users and an exploding marketplace, then sure. I guess your definition of failing works.

Seriously, go take it somewhere else.

Fan Boy

January 13, 2012 at 2:36 pm

Chris, you exude arrogance (or ignorance), you must be an iPhone owner. Failing OS, yes, Windows is about to meet it’s uncertain doom, and has been for the last 27 years. Funny how all the Fan Boys forget it wasn’t long ago MS loaned Apple several hundred million dollars just to help keep their doors open. When Microsoft gets serious and dedicates their resources to something they usually get what they want……maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow………don’t beleive me, go ask the people that developed Netscape, Word Perfect, Lotus Notes……..the list goes on and on…..

Murani Lewis

January 13, 2012 at 2:40 pm

Chris here’s a direct excerpt from Apple’s site. “You can’t edit or delete photos from your Photo Stream. If you want to touch up an photo or keep a favorite shot permanently, simply save it to your Camera Roll. iCloud stores new photos for 30 days,”.

So the uploading and syncing is automatic regardless if you don’t exactly want the photos to be synced? Last week got a call from an iPhone using friend. He loaded a particular private adult photo unto his phone and guess what pulled up on his son’s iPod Touch? You guessed it. He called me about how to fix the issue. He had to turn the feature off and wasn’t the whole point and play of Apple is the user doesn’t have to do anything? Also why does a user have to save the photo to the camera roll if they want to keep it permanently? Is that not a user action that is required to achieve a permanence that the iCloud doesn’t offer? I call fail whale!

Nokia isn’t supposed to single handedly save the platform. Nokia is supposed to bring the platform into the discussion and thats exactly what they are doing. Heavy mindshare and word of mouth in Europe and winning the buzz for CES despite being announced so early in the week. Now factor in Nokia’s marketing chops, exclusive agreements with gaming companies, getting AT&T to promote the phone seriously, Microsoft and Nokia incentitizing the RSPs and well, you get the picture, hopefully.

I’m glad you like your Apple experience, i hope everyone grows to love their platform of choice so much. The thing is that you want to dismiss the platform in its infancy when its clear Microsoft is just now getting started and if you listen/read to the people who have the most insight they’ll tell you Mango was the version they wanted to release all along and Nokia is the type of partner they needed to push their vision through.

Chris Leiter

January 13, 2012 at 5:51 pm

@ Anthony

Clearly you don’t know who I am

@ Murani

Yep, that’s the only downfall I suppose.. They’ve already fixed it in the next release – which should be out very soon.

The upload is automatic to photos you take if you have photostream on, yes. I wouldn’t have it any other way. Want to take an ‘interesting’ photo? Turn off photostream OR just use another camera app like camera +.

Also, arrogance? Sure. I have had more phones than I care to think about and I’ve never used one better since I got my iPhone 4 last summer. No.. I take that back. I got a better one this October when I replaced it with the iPhone 4S.

I’m sure I’ll get a better phone later this year too…

;)

Stan City

January 13, 2012 at 7:31 pm

@ Murani

Yes I did say you needed apps to accomplish control of Docs with the other platforms, but you don’t with WM. Yes everyone is pushing cloud but WP devices specs are using Skydrive as counted memory. That’s lying! It has nothing to do with the hardware. WP is a slick fast Mobile OS, I like it but a few seconds more I can accomplish more on other OS including the old WM. That Sucks MS!!!

Apple is way ahead of MS/WP and has far better devices than Nokia, it’s that simple. While MS is D–king around trying to force Skydrive, those of us who are serious Smartphone users are being forced to use other devices/OS so we can get the most out of them in todays applications. If you give me a phone that has Zune on it then 16gb is too small since the most recent Zune players have that memory as a minimum. Add a decent camera and you need at least another 16gb of memory needed. Serious users will fill 32gb in no time, much less a 2 year contract. So MS/Nokia offerings are ludicris at best. Why do I need so much memory? Gee I don’t know, why does everyplace that sells Computers also sell external hard drives? Ever wonder why Cloud services are pushed? Think about it 25gb is not enough and there is money to be made on the gigabytes over.

Also— I’m a huge fan of WM/WP and I’ve been around this stuff since the PPC days. MS is playing us right now, I’m calling them out. Don’t blame AT&T they offer consistantly the best devices first. Apple sweetened the deal to appeal to all user needs and MS/Nokia could do the same. Carriers make the majority of $$ on services and not on devices.

As far as the “I got smoked by WP” promotion, I’m not sold by the half second difference. Simple, Cool, Easy and Pretty sells. Aggrevating your client base all to hell is a simple way to go out of business. Good Luck!

murani lewis

January 13, 2012 at 8:39 pm

@Stan, I can appreciate your desire for more memory. I just think that those of us who read mobile tech blogs need to get over ourselves. From an economic standpoint it makes very little sense to go for 32 & 64GB versions of phones. The extra storage wouldn’t be the deciding factor in people picking a Windows Phone over another platform about 90% of the time. It is a choice of ecosystems more than anything else.

I’ve talked to several retail salespersons from multiple carriers and the one model they have trouble selling of the iPhone is the 64GB model. We’re talking about a phone that sold more than 30 million units in the past quarter when considering all models. People have been buying 3GS’s and 8GB iPhone 4s left and right. That says all that needs to be said. Android doesn’t come with insanely large storage they depend on the expansion slot to boost memory for their users. Its not Google being generous because its an open source software.

I’ve never seen Microsoft try and count the 25GB of SkyDrive storage as the phone storage. I have seen it on advertisements but the explanation of what that means was always present.

I’m a very serious smartphone and business user. I run multiple client social media marketing from my Windows Phone. I handle roughly 90-95% of my email from my phone. I record videos and take pictures too. I even use them in some of my graphic design & videography work. I share docs and collaborate with people from different organizations on a myriad of projects all using SkyDrive which I access on my phone.

I am a former dj who has an extensive collection of music and I keep most of my music in the cloud where its there until I need it. In almost every since of the word I am a power user. I am ecstatic with my Windows Phone experience so far and many more will be. If the platform doesn’t offer you the things you need there are two other excellent choices. Competition is good and there is more than enough customers to go around. No hard feelings as I sense you are an informed user who makes informed choices. If you happy i’m happy for you. Again your comments and perspective is appreciated but I respectfully disagree with some of the points of contention.

By telling me to go take it elsewhere (‘it’ being my opinion) you only helped to antagonize me. That, and I’m an iPhone user first and foremost, and I’ll take a glance at the rest of the market if something has something of interest to me.

The Nokia 900 does NOT impress me at all. Maybe if I get one in my hand and it heals my wrist or takes off 30 lbs, sure I’ll think twice about it, but the fact that it runs WP7 really turns me off.. well that, and the fact that so many people are pointing to this one single device as the savior of Windows Phone.

Will it sell? Sure.. So did the Dell Streak.

How many will it sell? Does it play Angry Birds? Yep? Great it’ll sell a couple million.

I just can’t fathom why anyone would choose this over the iPhone or the Galaxy SII when they goto the AT&T, Verizon or Sprint stores..

but again, that’s just my opinion, and that’s the wonderful thing about these blogs… I can blab on about my opinion all day long.

Stan City

January 14, 2012 at 12:57 am

@ Murani
It’s about why does Apple/Android get all the best specs and if your s**t doesn’t have it then who’s going to care? I don’t care about what the dumbass sales staff at retail stores have to say. When was the last time one of those people could teach you and I something new? Those people are the sheep of IOS/Android. It takes a goat for someone who would say “it doesn’t make economic sense”. You should want the OS you believe in to offer the real best. All I’m saying is the MS/Nokia are cheating the people who are loyal to them by presenting a 2009 spec device as “High End”. My HD2 walks circles around the (900), it can do it all. WP7 started off with alot of promise, the Focus had an expandable memory and HTC offered reliable devices. Then everything slowed down and laughable devices came out. Nokia who’s known for making cheap crap for cheap users takes charge and this ecosystem is ready to die.

(Here is Nokia’s specs under hardware and “plus Skydrive cloud storage” is not hardware)

As far as this exchange goes I going to let you have the last word if you want it. The Surround is far better economically than any Nokia WP has offered. Where’s the “High End device”? I’m not seeing it or anything close. I’m going to enjoy my Topped out in memory HTC Surround till contract time is up around the same time as Tango’s release. If MS still offers sh*t to choose from I’m moving on. (BTW I’ll rejoice if they do offer something real)

So far I’m not seeing the commitment from MS to be the best. I do see MS wanting to collect a flock of goats to compare to the other OS’s flocks of sheep.

Why would someone pick anything than Android? You’re judging the Lumia on paper specs and, if that were what everyone did then there would be no fathomable reason to use anything else.

However, there have been many people burned by budget priced Android phones. If it’s not a Nexus, a Galaxy S, a RAZR, or a Droid, chances are it’s not going to be very good (Exception to high-end HTC phones). There are budget priced iPhones and Windows Phones that kill in the performance arena (3GS, Radar, 710) and that’s where quite a few of the expanding market will end up as this train keeps chuggin’.

I didn’t pick an iPhone because I absolutely hate the Apple ecosystem, especially iTunes. If I didn’t own and love my iPod to death I wouldn’t even consider having that buggy resource sucking troglodyte of a program on my computer.

And you’ll excuse me if I insulted your opinion. You didn’t even know what the phone you were trashing looked like, so while you are certainly entitled to your opinion on this blog, just make sure you have your facts clear.

The Lumia 800 has made headway in the sales chart. Although nothing compared to the other operating systems, it has apparently tripled the marketshare of WP7 in the Netherlands and is overtaking BlackBerry in France. It’s not an explosion into the 10% territory, but it shows marketshare trajectory heading damn near straight up.

MartiM

January 14, 2012 at 4:53 pm

Why would someone not choose and iPhone? Because, like Anthony, I have absolutely NO interest in going into the Apple ecosystem. Some of those reasons are practical, some are emotional and irrational, but they are mine.
I’ve been very happy with my HTC Surround, so I have no compelling reason to opt-out of the ecosystem that I have chosen. That being said, I also received a Kindle Fire for Christmas, so now I’m beginning to be invested in the Android ecosystem as well. My son loves playing on it, and he’s beginning to to chores and work on his behavior (!!) to earn money to get his own. If he starts in the Android ecosystem so young, am I going to have trouble getting him out of it once he’s old enough for a phone? You betcha. And that’s a marketer’s dream.
My sister-in-law and her family all have iThings (iPhones, iPads). Does this make one of us ‘better’ than the other? No, it’s just preference at first and familiarity and compatibility later on.
I can’t wait to get my hands on the Titan II and the Lumia 900 to compare them. And then maybe I’ll just give my son my Surround (cell service off) to get him used to both MS and Android. ;)

RobbCab

January 17, 2012 at 1:29 pm

@ChrisLeiter

“I don’t like that style of design, and sure as hell don’t like the late 1950s Parisian gloss it has going for it”